love at the end of the pipe
mild today chance of scattered acids
will be spraying down roads cover mouths
evening reports a decline in light
love in the throat
Columbine dust bin scattered pistils
diversification rain in the prairie dog towns
gas ’em in hubris in August with intention
love in the
disturbed field a distributed harm
no pollen rest for the weary wind
benzene burns the buttercup
weary bird in the sheening water
titmouse declares a nest for titration
mild today chance of scattered seed
the distributed field a total control
in the scattered sheens
in the blistered throat
love at the end of the pipe
—
Matthew Cooperman is the author of, most recently, the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2024) and Wonder About The, winner of the Halcyon Prize (Middle Creek, 2023) as well as NOS (disorder, not otherwise specified), with Aby Kaupang, (Futurepoem, 2018), Spool, winner of the New Measure Prize (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2016), and other books. His ninth book, Time, & Its Monument, is forthcoming from Station Hill Press. A Founding Editor of the exploratory prose journal Quarter After Eight, Cooperman is Co-Poetry Editor for Colorado Review, and Professor of English at Colorado State University. He lives in Fort Collins with his wife, the poet Aby Kaupang, and their children. More info at http://matthewcooperman.org
